Kriek Lambic - Sprecher Brewing Company

emerge077

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev +27.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Really had no expectations with this (as with any new beer).

Into a Duvel tulip, the 22 oz. bomber pours a deep saturated scarlet, dark in the center with blood red ruby edges. Pink foam, creamy like cherry yogurt. Retention is ok, the skim only breaks after 10 minutes or so.

Full on ripe cherry nose, sweet and fruity, with a creeping Brett presence of leather, wet musty hay, and gauze notes. More fruity than anything, though the slight funkiness lends some credibility as a lambic-style wild ale. Let it warm up to really get the full aroma.

Tart pie cherry, somewhat sweet at first with some of the funkiness from the nose. Dry aftertaste, crisp carbonation. The sweetness is balanced by a flash of sourness initially, which tempers the sweet element just enough. Authentic Door county cherries are noticeable, lending a succulent bright fruitiness that is unique. Not the most complex, but it showcases the cherries nicely. Soft, lush feel with slight natural acidity from the fruit. It has the creaminess of cherry yogurt in the midpalate. Very quenching and drinkable. Objectively this is a good beer, when not attempting to judge it myopically against traditional Belgian lambics. It's not in the same league with Cantillon (lol), or even Lindemans on the other end of the scale.

Imagine Belgian Red with Brett... this "Kriek-style" fruit beer is on that path. A few bottles in the cellar would be a worthwhile experiment, as it's bottle conditioned. For a first-time *lambic-style* beer from a brewer that traditionally brews German styles, Sprecher Kriek is a success.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2011 00:46:41 | More by emerge077

TheRevMatt

Wisconsin

2/5  rDev -36.7%

05-05-2013 20:14:09 | More by TheRevMatt

blackie

Virginia

3.73/5  rDev +18%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

bottle from bruisin' cellared about a year, piraat wide snifter

a: after popping the cap the carbonation very slowly builds to push through the neck of the bottle, poured into my wide piraat chalice, this kriek appears ruby red - the color of pink grapefruit flesh, topped with only a thin ring of carbonation

s: immediately hit with loads of tart on the nose - wild and lovingly rotten, lots of dry sour aromas with a heavy current of fully fermented red fruits, cherry and strawberry fallen to the ground and fermenting in place - not an entirely different species than a crisp rose wine (save the bacteria, of course), green apple tart, powerful funk, some slight sweetness comes from a slight residual cherry sugar

m: carbonation nucleates and blooms on the palate - not quite mouth filling, but highly active and abrasive, body on the lighter side

t: tart-sour powdered fruits spread across the palate - most notably cherry of course, but some additions of strawberry, cranberry, and green apple, quite acidic and highly dry with some slightly perceptible residual fruit sugars - slightly more with warmth, again with the powerful wild funk, maybe a touch thin on the tongue but still mostly on the mark

o: the only knock I can really have here is that it’s not terrifyingly/awesomely complex - particularly on the tongue, but it hits some great sour/wild notes to satisfy the rot craving, and the fruits come through nicely and not cloying

I get the funk that others seem to be missing, and the sugars are nicely dried out - perhaps it took some time for it to take over. 10327 on the neck (Nov. 22 '10?)

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2013 02:10:13 | More by blackie

duff247

Texas

3.25/5  rDev +2.8%

02-25-2013 00:43:43 | More by duff247

dragomni

Minnesota

3.5/5  rDev +10.8%

01-28-2013 01:00:04 | More by dragomni

mychalg9

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +18.7%

01-15-2013 22:03:56 | More by mychalg9

HoistinBrews

Minnesota

1/5  rDev -68.4%

01-06-2013 00:56:32 | More by HoistinBrews

xnicknj

Pennsylvania

3.18/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

12oz bottle poured into tulip - thanks to Mark000

Pours a golden orange color with cherry hues and a thick froth of white head. Retains nicely with a thick coating of white film, leaving fat patches of lacing on the glass.

Funky sour cherries in the nose with a spike of fruit sweetness. Yeasty notes with horse blanket and brett. Dark fruit sweetness and straw with lactic sourness.

Biting sourness up front with dark cherry notes. Red wine with cherry skins and soft bitterness. Biscuit and straw with grassy hints and funky barnyard tones. Finishes tart and dry with some lingering cherry tones.

Lighter medium body, high carbonation, bubbly and abrasive on the tongue. A decent enough take on the typical kriek although it definitely gets lost in the shuffle with more traditional Belgian examples.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2012 05:09:10 | More by xnicknj

tgraven

Wisconsin

2.75/5  rDev -13%

11-13-2012 22:35:55 | More by tgraven

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.35/5  rDev +6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Intense nose here. At first the bugs just claw at my nose, and it doesn't come across pretty. Then it turns into more of a kriek and funky combination. Let's keep in mind that I haven't even tried the beer yet. Here we go. Eh. It's okay. Seems kind of unremarkable. Just a heavy load of brettanomyces. Seems to be overbearing on all other aspects of the beer. Kriek is almost not present. I've certainly had some horrific and poorly executed lambics and wild ales. This isn't really one of those. It's just as one dimensional as it gets, and not very interesting. Sure tastes like a lambic though.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2012 02:24:44 | More by RblWthACoz

Ri0

Wisconsin

2.5/5  rDev -20.9%

08-26-2012 20:41:25 | More by Ri0

SafeAtFirst

Wisconsin

2.75/5  rDev -13%

07-15-2012 15:35:28 | More by SafeAtFirst

ssjkyle

Nebraska

4.25/5  rDev +34.5%

07-14-2012 04:56:35 | More by ssjkyle

Peyton5410

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -5.1%

05-20-2012 02:56:22 | More by Peyton5410

TimRasmussen

Wisconsin

5/5  rDev +58.2%

05-18-2012 17:48:14 | More by TimRasmussen

golfboy9986

Florida

3/5  rDev -5.1%

04-20-2012 23:45:44 | More by golfboy9986

cofeeguru

Minnesota

2.5/5  rDev -20.9%

03-26-2012 19:33:16 | More by cofeeguru

falloutsnow

Illinois

3.28/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bottle from Brix in Omaha, NE
"21779FL / 10327141" stamped on bottle...whatever
Poured into a standard US pint glass

I really don't know if Sprecher's kriek lambic is really the correct name for this beer. The recipe seems to blend a Belgian Pale Ale with a cherry beer, and not cherries with lambic: the beer is not sour, aside from a brief burst of tartness at the close of tasting. If Sprecher had marketed this as a cherry Belgian Pale Ale, they may have started discussion on a new variant of the style. As it stands, they've labeled their beer to become a rather drinkable, though unexciting pseudo-lambic.

Pours a tall (>3cm) head of medium-sized bubbles, generating quite a bit of light pink foam. Head retention is about a minute, leaving some spots and streaks of lacing. Body is a reddish-magenta color when away from light, a reddish-pink color when held to the bulb. Carbonation is clearly visible, though this is a semi-hazy, unfiltered beer.

Strong plastic on top of fruity cherry aroma with some slight malt sweetness, surprising how distinct the two layers are. Aside from these two layers, I don't detect anything else (no wood, soil, cheese, musty basement scents).

Opens on the tip of tongue with cherry juice sweetness. This is quickly surpassed by semi-tart cherry juice blended with malt sweetness. Mild Brettanomyces character (plastic resin, slightly scorched) makes itself known around this time, and continues until the close. By mid-palate, things are sweet, mostly malt and cherries with some Brett. Metallic notes are there, detectable, but not as strong as some have pointed out. Some spiciness, perhaps from Brett? Flash of tartness on the very back of the tongue during swallowing, which is actually somewhat pleasant. Aftertaste is of Brettanomyces character (plastic resin), a bit of grain, and residual cherries.

Body is medium-light to light, slightly watery around the edges. Carbonation is present, but not particularly strong, just enough to move this comfortably along the palate.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2012 18:50:26 | More by falloutsnow

imperialking

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev +10.8%

03-15-2012 19:26:47 | More by imperialking

4DAloveofSTOUT

Illinois

3.03/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

reviewed from notes taken on 2/24/12.

poured into snifter glass.

Appearance: deep red bodied beer with 2 fingers of white head that drops quickly to no head.

Smell: Mostly cherries with a strong musty smell.

Taste: Cherries right away that are quite balanced. I cant really describe them as sweet or a tart, just balanced. Not much sour to this lambic/kriek style beer. It also tastes musty just like it smells.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied beer with lite carbonation. The beer still seems a little syrupy, but still drinkable.

Overall: Nice try by Sprecher. The musty flavor distracts from the beer. Wish this one had some sour notes in it.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2012 00:14:55 | More by 4DAloveofSTOUT

hefehead12

North Carolina

2.5/5  rDev -20.9%

02-29-2012 04:07:13 | More by hefehead12

CheapBeerBuzz

California

3.5/5  rDev +10.8%

02-28-2012 04:44:36 | More by CheapBeerBuzz

Duff27

Illinois

2.75/5  rDev -13%

02-25-2012 06:17:55 | More by Duff27

djrn2

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +10.8%

02-21-2012 00:40:21 | More by djrn2

LJWalker

Alabama

4/5  rDev +26.6%

02-08-2012 17:27:04 | More by LJWalker